The first-ever Dean James E. McLeod Freshman Writing Prize has been awarded, and the inaugural winners are Senit Kidane and Claudia Vaughan. McLeod was a longtime WUSTL leader who died in 2011. The Center for the Humanities provided funding for the contest, and any freshman in the College of Arts & Sciences could submit work for consideration. Original research papers exploring an aspect of race, gender or identity and created for a freshman course were eligible.

After a yearlong renovation, Cupples II is now home to the College of Arts & Sciences, the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and the Office of Undergraduate Research, as well as eight state-of-the-art pooled classrooms.